Fine Line Between Love and Hate
Chapter 13
Randy could tell this was tearing her apart inside. She was crying, and in the first fourteen years of her life he'd only seen her cry once, when her grandmother died. Now she was crying and he couldn't help but want to hurt whomever the cause of it was.
"Thank you Randy," she said this time taking the initiative and giving him a big hug. She could tell he really needed it, after she crushed him he way she did. She couldn't imagine that they would ever have ended up like this.
"We must look like a mess," Randy said after a few moments.
"No see I'm the beautiful one and you always look like a mess," Ali told him.
"True," Randy said. "You're beautiful, but I'm not always a mess, I'm a handsome man."
"Don't even start with me or I'll kick your ass all the way downstairs," Ali said with a smirk. Things were friendly for the moment but she didn't know how long that would last. They'd both been pretty emotional the last few weeks and she hoped their conversation wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak.
"I'm the one that's supposed to smirk not you," Randy said playfully. "We should probably go downstairs before they start looking for us."
"Yeah," Ali agreed. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom, I'll be down in a second."
"Okay," Randy said leaving the room. He couldn't believe that he told her so many things that he hadn't meant to tell her yet. He wanted to wait until she trusted him more to say some of that.
He stopped at the top of the stairs wiped his face with his sleeves to make sure he'd gotten all the tears off his face, and to make sure that he had his emotions in control before he had to face his parents and sister. He knew hiding the emotion from Leigh was damn near impossible, but he hoped his parents would at least pretend not to know. He'd rather not relive the last 30 minutes of his life especially when he knew he was going to have to with the guys being the way they were.
He almost literally ran into his sister on the way downstairs. "Sorry," he said giving her a little smile.
"What's wrong?" she asked immediately. "You didn't say something stupid or I'll have to kick your ass."
"No, Ali did most of the talking, I'll tell you later," Randy said knowing she was going to hear about it anyway.
Leigh knew if the look on his face despite the "hidden" emotion told her anything she'd be in for a long night, if not longer. "Where is Ali anyway?" Leigh asked.
"Bathroom," Randy said simply. He decided that he needed to concentrate on putting on a game face before seeing his parents. "Do I really look like a ball of messed up emotions?"
"You looked like something was wrong but not like you've just had one of the most emotional twenty-four hours of your life," Leigh told her brother, possibly a little to honestly.
"Leigh the firs half of that answer would have been enough," Randy told he knowing that there as nothing more that he could do now. "Hey Leigh how much do you know about what's happened to Ali the last six years?"
"I can tell you I don't know much, but I can't tell you what I know," Leigh told him. "It would break her trust in me and no matter how much I think you guys would be for each other, I won't betray her."
"I know I'm sorry I even asked. Can you at least put in a good word so eventually she might trust me enough to completely know what's going on in her head?" Randy asked realizing how stupid he was to have even asked the question.
He'd found himself doing that a lot lately. At the party he was stupid when he verbally attacked Ali, and just now for not telling her more of how he was feeling even though she'd admitted that she was holding things back from him. He was losing all of the sanity he'd rebuilt in the last six years.
He went into the family where his parents were watching movies. He sat on the couch and began absently watching the movie. A few minutes later he noticed Ali and Leigh enter the room. Ali sat on the other end of the couch with her legs curled underneath her. Leigh took a seat on the floor like she usually did.
A little while later Ella got up to start dinner, and Leigh and Ali went with her. Randy didn't really want to be left in a room alone with his father, but following his mother and sister in the kitchen would be more suspicious than the traces of his previous conversation.
"So, what's wrong, son?" Bob asked. As much as Randy thought he could hide things from his parents he never really managed to. One of them always knew what was going on.
"Nothing," Randy lied praying that it sounded convincing.
"Has anyone ever told you how bad you are at lying?" Bob asked his son. He knew that in this case he was going to have to approach a little kinder than he had the morning after the party incident. "For someone who was so happy when he was told Ali was coming for dinner you look pretty glum."
"Don't worry about it Dad, it's not anything you can help me out of," Randy told his dad trying to answer the question. He knew his dad wanted to see him and Ali together, but right now that was going to take a lot of time if it was even possible at all.
"How do you know if you don't tell me?" Bob asked his son. He knew it had to have something to do with Ali from the way his son was avoiding answering his questions.
"Dad, stop," Randy said. "I'm sure you'll know soon enough."
Bob decided to let it go for the moment. He was right. Ric would eventually know what was bothering Randy and then tell him. He didn't want to get his son frustrated at the moment especially with company even though it was only Ali.
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"Ali what's wrong. You look like you've been through an emotional wringer," Leigh asked her friend. She didn't mind asking in front of her mother as she knew Ella had noticed the same thing.
"Don't worry about it Leigh," Ali told her friend. She knew that if Leigh didn't know at the moment she would soon enough, probably both from her and Rand's points of view.
"Ali, it's not going to help any if you keep it all bottled up inside," Ella told the young woman she'd come to think of as another daughter.
"I know it'll just take a little time to digest all that's happened. I need to come to terms with things that have happened before I can tell anyone," Ali said.
"You're not going to let your past ruin you're future are you?" Leigh asked suddenly remembering what Randy asked her earlier.
"Leigh I'm not getting into this right now," Ali said knowing that her friend might just be right, but she couldn't let anyone hurt her again, and if they were more than friends then Randy would hurt her whether or not he intended to.
"You sound like you need it. Randy has been interested in you since he was fourteen years old. He didn't do anything to hurt you until you started the war that ended up humiliating both of you," Leigh said not caring what her mother already knew of the two's past. "He hasn't been able to let you go no matter how hard he tried. He took the initiative to apologize to you. He was willing to look forward, but you can't stop looking at the past long enough to notice that he's not he boy that you knew in high school. He's matured into a young man that is decent and all the wants is for you to give him a chance." Leigh didn't mean to lay into one of her best friends, but she didn't want to see her brother lead along while Ali got her life together and then rejected him.
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I write, you read and review. That's the way the system works
Chapter 13
Randy could tell this was tearing her apart inside. She was crying, and in the first fourteen years of her life he'd only seen her cry once, when her grandmother died. Now she was crying and he couldn't help but want to hurt whomever the cause of it was.
"Thank you Randy," she said this time taking the initiative and giving him a big hug. She could tell he really needed it, after she crushed him he way she did. She couldn't imagine that they would ever have ended up like this.
"We must look like a mess," Randy said after a few moments.
"No see I'm the beautiful one and you always look like a mess," Ali told him.
"True," Randy said. "You're beautiful, but I'm not always a mess, I'm a handsome man."
"Don't even start with me or I'll kick your ass all the way downstairs," Ali said with a smirk. Things were friendly for the moment but she didn't know how long that would last. They'd both been pretty emotional the last few weeks and she hoped their conversation wasn't the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak.
"I'm the one that's supposed to smirk not you," Randy said playfully. "We should probably go downstairs before they start looking for us."
"Yeah," Ali agreed. "I'm just going to go to the bathroom, I'll be down in a second."
"Okay," Randy said leaving the room. He couldn't believe that he told her so many things that he hadn't meant to tell her yet. He wanted to wait until she trusted him more to say some of that.
He stopped at the top of the stairs wiped his face with his sleeves to make sure he'd gotten all the tears off his face, and to make sure that he had his emotions in control before he had to face his parents and sister. He knew hiding the emotion from Leigh was damn near impossible, but he hoped his parents would at least pretend not to know. He'd rather not relive the last 30 minutes of his life especially when he knew he was going to have to with the guys being the way they were.
He almost literally ran into his sister on the way downstairs. "Sorry," he said giving her a little smile.
"What's wrong?" she asked immediately. "You didn't say something stupid or I'll have to kick your ass."
"No, Ali did most of the talking, I'll tell you later," Randy said knowing she was going to hear about it anyway.
Leigh knew if the look on his face despite the "hidden" emotion told her anything she'd be in for a long night, if not longer. "Where is Ali anyway?" Leigh asked.
"Bathroom," Randy said simply. He decided that he needed to concentrate on putting on a game face before seeing his parents. "Do I really look like a ball of messed up emotions?"
"You looked like something was wrong but not like you've just had one of the most emotional twenty-four hours of your life," Leigh told her brother, possibly a little to honestly.
"Leigh the firs half of that answer would have been enough," Randy told he knowing that there as nothing more that he could do now. "Hey Leigh how much do you know about what's happened to Ali the last six years?"
"I can tell you I don't know much, but I can't tell you what I know," Leigh told him. "It would break her trust in me and no matter how much I think you guys would be for each other, I won't betray her."
"I know I'm sorry I even asked. Can you at least put in a good word so eventually she might trust me enough to completely know what's going on in her head?" Randy asked realizing how stupid he was to have even asked the question.
He'd found himself doing that a lot lately. At the party he was stupid when he verbally attacked Ali, and just now for not telling her more of how he was feeling even though she'd admitted that she was holding things back from him. He was losing all of the sanity he'd rebuilt in the last six years.
He went into the family where his parents were watching movies. He sat on the couch and began absently watching the movie. A few minutes later he noticed Ali and Leigh enter the room. Ali sat on the other end of the couch with her legs curled underneath her. Leigh took a seat on the floor like she usually did.
A little while later Ella got up to start dinner, and Leigh and Ali went with her. Randy didn't really want to be left in a room alone with his father, but following his mother and sister in the kitchen would be more suspicious than the traces of his previous conversation.
"So, what's wrong, son?" Bob asked. As much as Randy thought he could hide things from his parents he never really managed to. One of them always knew what was going on.
"Nothing," Randy lied praying that it sounded convincing.
"Has anyone ever told you how bad you are at lying?" Bob asked his son. He knew that in this case he was going to have to approach a little kinder than he had the morning after the party incident. "For someone who was so happy when he was told Ali was coming for dinner you look pretty glum."
"Don't worry about it Dad, it's not anything you can help me out of," Randy told his dad trying to answer the question. He knew his dad wanted to see him and Ali together, but right now that was going to take a lot of time if it was even possible at all.
"How do you know if you don't tell me?" Bob asked his son. He knew it had to have something to do with Ali from the way his son was avoiding answering his questions.
"Dad, stop," Randy said. "I'm sure you'll know soon enough."
Bob decided to let it go for the moment. He was right. Ric would eventually know what was bothering Randy and then tell him. He didn't want to get his son frustrated at the moment especially with company even though it was only Ali.
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"Ali what's wrong. You look like you've been through an emotional wringer," Leigh asked her friend. She didn't mind asking in front of her mother as she knew Ella had noticed the same thing.
"Don't worry about it Leigh," Ali told her friend. She knew that if Leigh didn't know at the moment she would soon enough, probably both from her and Rand's points of view.
"Ali, it's not going to help any if you keep it all bottled up inside," Ella told the young woman she'd come to think of as another daughter.
"I know it'll just take a little time to digest all that's happened. I need to come to terms with things that have happened before I can tell anyone," Ali said.
"You're not going to let your past ruin you're future are you?" Leigh asked suddenly remembering what Randy asked her earlier.
"Leigh I'm not getting into this right now," Ali said knowing that her friend might just be right, but she couldn't let anyone hurt her again, and if they were more than friends then Randy would hurt her whether or not he intended to.
"You sound like you need it. Randy has been interested in you since he was fourteen years old. He didn't do anything to hurt you until you started the war that ended up humiliating both of you," Leigh said not caring what her mother already knew of the two's past. "He hasn't been able to let you go no matter how hard he tried. He took the initiative to apologize to you. He was willing to look forward, but you can't stop looking at the past long enough to notice that he's not he boy that you knew in high school. He's matured into a young man that is decent and all the wants is for you to give him a chance." Leigh didn't mean to lay into one of her best friends, but she didn't want to see her brother lead along while Ali got her life together and then rejected him.
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I write, you read and review. That's the way the system works